ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Civilians who have fled the Turkish incursion in northern Syria to seek refuge in the Kurdistan Region are in grave need of medical care, according to Sherri Kraham Talabany, President and Executive Director of the SEED Foundation. “There are quite a number of severe medical needs,” she told Rudaw English on Monday, adding that shelter, protection and mental health needs also require urgent attention. Established in 2014, the organisation works across the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) with refugees, IDPs and trafficking victims. It operates in close partnership with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and other NGOs to improve services accessed by the most vulnerable, including survivors of Islamic State (ISIS) captivity and refugees fleeing Turkey’s ‘ethnic cleansing’ campaign in neighbouring Syria. More than 200,000 have been displaced since October 9, when Turkey launched their long-threatened Operation Peace Spring into northeast Syria in what has been a largely successful attempt to clear the Kurdish-held territory of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Despite mass displacement, very few have made it to the Kurdistan Region. "A very small percentage of the displaced in Rojava are actually coming into Kurdistan," Talabany said. Although violence has affected all communities in northeast Syria, a diverse area home to Kurds, Yezidis, Christians and other groups, Talabany says the small number of those entering the KRI are Kurds. Christians and Yezidi villages have been pillaged and emptied in the past two months as Islamist Turkish proxy groups lay siege to the region known by Kurds as Rojava. Tel Tamr, a predominantly Christian town, has witnessed fierce fighting, and Yezidi villages have been completely deserted amid the threat of another genocide. ISIS has also taken advantage of the chaos to target minority groups, murdering an Armenian priest and his father last week. More than 15,000 people are said to have entered the KRI since the Turkish offensive began, using unofficial border crossings. For many, this is not the first time they have fled for their lives, following close to a decade of Syrian civil war and the onslaught of ISIS. The KRG have re-opened camps, which have already reached full capacity, to accommodate the new arrivals. Just last week, the province of Duhok received an honorary award for its efforts to welcome IDPs and refugees who fled to the Region amid ISIS violence. SEED Foundation provides both long and short-term psychological aid for beneficiaries, a critical resource that is often inaccessible, or simply unavailable, for those who need it most. It is clear that those now escaping Rojava are in dire need of such aid. "The people coming over are shell-shocked. The children are traumatised. Every plane that comes overhead, they think that they're going to get bombed," Talabany said. Talabany noted the ''especially shocking" nature of the Turkish incursion, prompted by the withdrawal of US troops from northern Syria, which brought violence to a territory which was a relative oasis of peace amid the civil war gripping the rest of the country. The offensive intends to create a ‘safe zone’ in which to resettle Syrian Arabs from the Damascus suburb of Eastern Ghouta, among other areas. Despite two ceasefire deals brokered by the US and Russia, fighting continues between the SDF and Turkish-backed proxy groups, with Syrian regime and Russian troops also embroiled in the conflict. As winter approaches, Talabany called on donors to continue supporting aid agencies working with the displaced, stating that “all the issues faced with new arrivals from Iraq and Syria in the past years are present in this new tragedy.” 'Donors are fatigued with the refugee crisis. It's so important for people to step up even though they are tired, their funds are exhausted. The needs are just as urgent and important as they were eight years ago,” she added.
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